Pocalypse Dawn

The return of the Kaijū!

We recently announced that Mythic Games’ next Kickstarter, scheduled to launch this fall, will be a new “board game” edition of the Epic Monsterpocalypse miniatures game, created by Matt Wilson and published by Privateer Press. The Boardgame will be a co-production between Privateer Press and Mythic Games that will, for the first time, allow this game to be published in the form of a real “board game” and not a “hobby” type game, as it has been up until now.

Like many Privateer Press games, Monsterpocalypse has always enjoyed a strong fanbase and community following, both for its stunning visual appeal and for its tactical richness, impressive for a game themed around giant monster fights ravaging a city.

Here’s a short overview of this “monsterpocalyptic” project, before we bring you other articles that will go into more detail about the game mechanics and what’s new in the Mythic version.

A theme that speaks to us

You should know that long before this fantastic Monsterpocalypse opportunity was offered to us, we had included, in the list of game themes that we absolutely wanted to develop, a game whose code name was “Kaijū vs Robots”. 

We’d chosen the theme, had even thought about a team of artists and considered some possible technical innovations… But we had never really started development. Nearly 3 years later, we were able to get up close and personal with our friends at Privateer Press (whose founder, Matt Wilson, is a longtime friend of Leonidas Vesperini) and get fired up for a simple idea: what if, together, we produced the ultimate edition of Monsterpocalypse? 

This exciting idea made it possible to fulfill two dreams: that of producing a game using the theme of fighting gigantic monsters in the middle of skyscrapers; and that of working with Privateer Press, a company whose games we have respected and loved since day 1. Games like Warmachine, Hordes… and Monsterpocalypse.

The Earth is now a BATTLEFIELD!

Nothing to do with the awful Travolta movie… but an apt title. And indeed, in this end-of-the-world universe that is Monsterpocalypse, Earth and especially skyscraper crammed megacities have become the scene of a ruthless war between Massive Monsters divided into two sides:  Protectors, Earth’s defenders, and Destroyers, who, as their name suggests, just want to destroy it. 

Within the same side, several factions can ally up, among the Protectors, the human-piloted giant robots of G.U.A.R.D can ally with the gigantic dinosaurs of the Terrasaurs faction, the colossal Simians of The Empire of Apes, the Nanotech masters, the Shadow Sun Syndicate, a Japanese underworld organization whose tech grown Ninjas strike like lightning.. and many others that we’ll introduce you to later as we check out the breakdown of the Kickstarter.

The Destroyers also contain multiple factions like The Planet Eaters, who want to eat every last Earth morsel, the summoned ancient evil extra-dimensional entities The Lords of Cthul the envious eyed Tripod fielding Martian Menace, intent on plundering all Earth has to offer, to mention just a few of the evil faction options. 

You got it, it’s a wild delirious fun ride of a theme complete with, nods, winks, references, and tributes. From total action blockbuster to titanic throwdowns.

In a typical game of Monsterpocalypse Board Game, you choose your side and then your faction, the monsters, and units that represent your force that face off against the player(s) of the opposing sides faction, or even an AI-controlled monster if you play in co-op mode. 

Each battle takes place in a city that you create by strategically placing  3-D buildings, which are not only cosmetic but can provide special abilities and assistance. Needless to say, many of these buildings will be razed during the clash, as nothing is more effective at damaging your opponent’s Monster than throwing it into a building. In addition to your giant monsters, you control smaller support units, such as tanks, planes, helicopters, and all kinds of critters. 

The game continues right up till one sides Monster(s) is/are totally eliminated! If you control the last monster(s) still standing, you’ve won!

Monsterpocalypse, the movie?

Monsterpocalypse almost made it to cinema screens in  2010. Several studios were interested and one director, Guillermo del Toro, had even entered the frame. Then, Dreamworks bought an option, started the movie media hype, and even announced a director: Tim Burton. But Monsterpocalypse the movie didn’t get off the ground, in part because of the release of Pacific Rim, which had a similar theme and was directed by the originally touted director, Guillermo del Toro. More recently, Warner Bros. acquired the rights to the franchise and this film project has sparked considerable speculation. 

Given the proliferation and trending interest in Kaijū, let’s hope the studio treats it right!

From hobby game to board game

Privateer Press is mainly known for its tabletop miniature games, but much less for its board games, which makes this new project on Kickstarter in co-pro with Mythic Games even more interesting. Indeed, the communities of the two publishers are distinct and complementary and the challenge will be to bring them together. 

Here’s how we’ll meet that challenge!  By offering a total board game, totally ready to play the instant you open the box and crammed full of a huuuge! number of components at a price that only crowdfunding can allow. 

Balancing all of the above with the need to ensure total compatibility and integration between the board game edition and the latest 2018 Monsterpocalypse miniatures game the second edition, thus ensuring that Monsterpocalypse miniatures game veterans will still find something of interest in this board game version to add to their collection and grab items that spark that interest at an amazing price. Because interest sparking goodies, there will be!

As for the Mythic Games and Kickstarter communities, it is likely that Monsterpocalypse hasn’t crossed their radar, so for them, it will be a brand-new game. New players will be able to enjoy a spectacular range of miniatures and a proven and refined game that has excited a generation of players since its original 2008 release. 

Monsterpocalypse, until now, was a Hobby Game, a type of game that requires you to buy your “forces” separately, bit by bit, and that you assemble and glue together your miniatures, sold in single parts or clusters (resin and metal for Privateer Press, hard plastic for Games Workshop for example). In a miniature board game, on the contrary, everything you need, the equivalent of several factions, is included in the core box and everything is ready to play the moment the box is opened. The plastic miniatures are already assembled, you’ll play on a solid gameboard whose areas of movement and lines of sight are “fixed”, no movement with the help of rulers as in miniature wargames, no line of sight approximated by observing from the point of view of the miniature, etc. 

Last but not least, the prices of miniature board games benefit from the “Kickstarter model” and are therefore much more attractive than the hobby-type games sold directly in retail. We can fearlessly state that this edition of Monsterpocalypse, will be the best offer ever for this game, the most exhaustive, and the most economical.

And just what does the Kickstarter offer?

We’ll dive into the details of the Monsterpocalypse base pledge box contents and the multiplayer pledge in future articles (Cool!) but we can reveal some initial elements. So, the core box is for 2 players and will allow you to play in competitive 1 vs 1 mode, but also solo or co-op modes (two players vs the game system). In the solo or co-op mode, the player-controlled monster(s) must defeat an AI-controlled monster (on maps that govern its behavior). This core box will contain 8 classic Monsterpocalypse Monster miniatures and  40 + support units spread over four factions: G.U.A.R.D., Terrasaurs, Planet Devourers, and Lords of Cthulh, over twenty plastic buildings, a strong double-sided game board, and all the dice, monster cards, tokens, unit cards, and other player boards.

There will also be a 3/4 player expansion box called “Battle Royale“, which will contain everything necessary for playing with up to 4 players: sets of dice and additional tokens, player dashboards, a two-sided game board (3 players map on one side, 4 players on the other side). 

Note that the Battle Royale expansion will be completely new and will feature 5 BRAND NEW Apex monsters, the ultimate evolution of iconic creatures from the game: Defender Extreme, Arctic Armodax, Mega-Gorghadra, Insatiable Yasheth, and Nightmare Gallamaxus. The awesome news is that this expansion can be purchased independently, without the need to add the core box. Indeed, it is likely that veterans already own most of the monsters in the core box. 

Battle Royale will allow you to play cooperatively with 3 or 4 players, but also in competitive 2 vs 2 or free for all with 3 or 4 players. The Monsterpocalypse Board Game is 100% compatible with the hobby edition published in 2018. Everything offered in this Kickstarter version works with what already exists, and everything that already exists works with everything that is offered in the new product line.

For now, we are only planning an English and French version of the Monsterpocalypse Board Game. But it’s not impossible that we enter partnerships to offer the game in other languages.

Fall 2021 on Kickstarter!

We’re coming to the end of this first introductory article, Looks like we had a lot to say!

Let’s finish by reminding you that the Kickstarter campaign for this version of Monsterpocalypse will be a huge one, with live shows, surprises, stretch goals, and expansions. 

So, you can expect some significant product additions, and probably even an extra box to contain the unlocked stretch goals, which we hope will be numerous! 

The game is scheduled to ship in the fall of 2022.

The Monsterpocalypse Board Game

Coming soon to Kickstarter!

https://mythicgames.net/kickstarter/

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